Blog Stats

Firewatch – PS4 Review

Firewatch is a new game that was recently released on PS4, Windows, OS X and Linux. It’s brought by the developer Campo Santo, which has developed…well, just firewatch.

As I mentioned, the game is available on a few platforms, but the one I am reviewing is the PS4 version.

The game is a first person exploration/mystery/horror adventure game, that centers on the games main hero Henry, a volunteer fire lookout stationed in Shoshone National Forest in 1989(So yes, technically this is an ’80s game). His only companion is Delilah, Henrys supervisor who communicates with you via walkie-Talkie.

As the game advances forward you start to build a relationship with your supervisor, explore the wilderness and eventually discover strange things afoot.

Overall the game sounds interesting, and fairly original! Does it live up to expectations though?

Graphics: 8.5/10 – The graphics are beautiful and artistic. If you are looking for realism in your games graphics though, look elsewhere! The graphics are very cartoony, and appear slightly cel-shading. In fact, the graphics remind me a little of the cartoony nature of World of Warcraft. So, I can’t stress this enough! It’s not realistic looking, and it isn’t intended to be.

The textures are gorgeous, and to be honest, the game its self is a delight to explore. I enjoyed just roaming around the wilderness and looking at all the work that the devs put into this game, more than I enjoyed actually playing the game. So, the graphics are absolutely top knotch.

Voice Acting: 9/10 – The two main characters were voiced rather well! Sure, the sounds of henrys voice didn’t match up with your actions, but that’s because the game has no way to know if you are climbing a mountain, or jumping across a river when you are talking. So, you don’t get the vocal distrubances from movement. However the acting is well done! Rich Sommer and Cissy Jones did a very good job acting out their characters emotions and fears. I was completely impressed!

Controls: 6/10 – The controls, are a pain at first. Mainly during conversations and dialog options. It takes awhile to get used to, and the first several conversations I ended up coming across like an ass and just not responding to her because the time limit would run out before I remembered which button combinations allowed me to reply. Also, when you are out exploring the wilderness, and you have your map up, trying to get your bearings and a call comes in. You can’t reply without first putting your map away. The game doesn’t inform you of this, but your response timer still ticks down, so I lost out on responding to a few other early on calls due to this as well.

Other than dialog, the controls are pretty straight forward, but unfortunately..at least for me, the conversation controls really hit the enjoyment factor hard.

Final thoughts: The game is short as hell. For 20 bucks, I expected more gameplay. Instead what I got 5 hours of gaming, and a good portion of that was spent exploring the area. While most of the game was enjoyable, it ended on a sour note, with what could be the worst and most boring game ending that I have ever experienced.

Is there a reason to replay it? Well, the store description says your choices can impact the game, however I don’t see how anything you say or do, could impact the game enough to warrant a second playthrough. Normally I would say that if you are a completionist you could go back and try to gain missed trophies, however all trophies are earned just by advancing the game…so If you finish the story, you have 100% completion.

Overall, I would suggest getting the game, but only if it’s on a 50% or more sale. 10 bucks seems fair for this game. 20 is just a ripoff.